In 1995, Professor Chou et al. of current Princeton University unveiled a new technology called nano-imprint lithography (Patent Document 1). The nano-imprint lithography is a technology including bringing a mold having a certain pattern in contact with a substrate on which a resin film is formed, pressurizing the resin film, and using heat or light as external stimulus for curing to form a target pattern on the cured resin film. This nano-imprint lithography has advantages that nano-scale processing can be easily and inexpensively carried out as compared with photo-lithography in conventional semiconductor device production.
Therefore, instead of the photo-lithography, the nano-imprint lithography is a technology expected for applications in a semiconductor device, an opto-device, a display, a memory medium, and a bio-chip. Thus, various curable compositions for photo-nano-imprint lithography used for nano-imprint lithography have been disclosed (Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
In the photo-nano-imprint lithography, a roll-to-roll method has been developed as a method for producing a pattern-transferred film in high efficiency in a large quantity. As a conventional roll-to-roll method developed for the photo-nano-imprint lithography, a method of using a flexible film as a substrate and using a material containing no solvents to which no solvents are added so that pattern dimension is difficult to be changed as a material used for the nano-imprint lithography (hereinafter, the material is abbreviated as an “imprint material” in this specification) is the mainstream.